Sterling Flying Fool

The top wing likes to depart on the Fool . Pat King's version is very nice and well constructed. Ken

I wonder if the interplane struts come out of their mounts, or if the plywood breaks. I am spending a lot of time to be certain that the keyed struts are fit very well. Perhaps if the top wing is loaded too heavy in flight, that stresses the connection.

We'll see when it flies! Can't wait, but there's too much snow, cold and wind to make flying any real fun!

Pictures of bones, soon.
GUS THE I.A.

I've always liked the Flying Fool, and it will be fun watching yours go together.

I started building one; it was probably in the late 1980s. I got as far as framing it up then abandoned the project. The kit wood was just so absolutely awful - rock hard and heavy, and I mean heavy. At that time I wasn't smart enough to substitute wood. The one modification I remember was to add some 1/16 sheeting to the lower wing center section at the fuselage join. I ultimately sold the plane and don't know if was ever completed.

There's been a lot written about Sterling kits and their wood. Sometimes it's terrible, like my Flying Fool. Other times, like in the DVII r/c kit I have, it's rather nice. Supposedly, the earlier the kit the better the wood.

Good luck with yours.

Jim

Is it one of these?

http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=4414

http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=690

I like biplanes

It's the first one Ian.

Cribbs74 wrote:It's the first one Ian.

Thanks - I missed on a kit for this a few weeks ago . It was just a Reddish Box and the briefest of descriptions. It started at 99p and I put a maximum bid of £10.00. No one else bid until the last minute and it went for £10.01p. I was just taking a flyer (no pun intended) - I wish I'd have known at the time what it would have looked like, I would have been less flippant.

It has character.

Its done. Finally! It kind of makes the crummy weather less infuriating when I have something to build.

I changed the airfoil to a nice, fat one, installed a tailwheel-rather than a skid, laminated the interplane struts with 1/64" ply, beefed-up the ribs where the struts attach to the top wing, carved the nose block to include a little chin air scoop, and installed a Fox .35. If it doesn't fly well, it will at least boogie around the circle with some authority! It balances just slightly nose-heavy. All that remains is: finishing the leadouts to connect the lines, and wait for some decent weather.

Gus your model is impeccable. Truly a great looking model. You never want a tail heavy bipe. I always had my suspicions about the "Fool". I wanted to always wanted to space the wings apart a bit more. I truly feel this would make a better flyer. Yours though looks great. Ken

Gus... you are a "building machine"!! The model looks fabulous! I so love biplanes...

Best of luck!
Roddie

I had one of them back in the seventies.  Second model I built after graduating from .049 models.  Someone gave me a McCoy 0.29? and I decided this was the model to build.

Remember I nearly burned out my new Moto Tool cutting the slot for the push rod.  That sheeting was tough.

Took it out for the first time and, for some reason, my mom drug a bunch of her friends out to watch.  Took that thing up and it would hardly fly over about 45 degrees before the lines went slack.  That little motor just didn't have the poop to power it, or I messed up the nose out, or the line lead-out, or something.  I didn't really worry, or know, too much back then about balancing or angles or stuff like that.  My buddy and I were the only ones around that played with these things and we had nobody to help get them right, plus I was impatient.

Anyway, I almost finished the tank and something went pop and it nosed straight into the ground.  Probably pulled a line or didn't glue the bellcrank properly.

I was so mad that I spent my allowance on making this thing, that it flew so poorly, and then just crashed that I ran over to it and stomped a mud puddle into it.  My mother was so mortified.

I see them on the Bay every once in awhile and still wonder if I could do better the second time.  I can't fly them anywhere around here even if I wanted to build another, so I'll live vicariously through your experience.  Looking forward to your flights.

BTW, mine wasn't nearly as good looking as yours.  For some reason I though orange would be a good color, so it looked like a pumpkin, with the black trim I put on it.

Have fun,

JayeLK

Fabulous!

As soon as that snow melts off the circle, I hope to hear a flight report.

Very nice airplane Gus, great workmanship and cool build, congrats!

WOW!!!

Gus that is a beautiful plane. Really nice color scheme.

I love bipe's. This one must be one of my favorites.

Congratulations Gus.

Theo

That aeroplane definitely has character!

truly a thing of beauty. I like your mods. Should make for a great flyer with the thick foil.

Jim Hayes

Your model is a beaut.
I built the Flying Fool when it was still in production, and flew it a few times. I ended up trading it for something else.
I liked building and was near a hobby shop that would trade finished models for kits.

I still have an unbuilt kit, and thought it would be fun to built a replica.

Tim

WoW 7 days you are a building machine !!! Nice looking plane , Yes give us a flight update ....Eric

Okay... I've flown the Fool several times, and can report that it really does need the power of the FOX .35. I don't have another biplane to compare it to, but I don't think the thicker airfoil hurt it any! It stays out, at the end of the lines, with adequate tension, and seems to loop inside as well as outside. Figure 8s are nice, big affairs! Wingovers are good, and inverted flight is fine. I put it on 60 foot lines, due to the .35 up front, and it looks pretty small out there! I should bring it out again, and really wring it out: play with the C.G. and elevator throw. It didn't seem to have any bad habits, and the wings are still very secure. The Flying Fool is more of a novelty airplane, for me, and does draw attention when it is at the field. Perhaps someone could wrestle this one around, to make it look like a good stunt plane, but for me, it's just a fun one!

Thanks for your interest! Build one!
GUS.

I am glad you had a good maiden flight Gus. It looks awesome. Sounds like it flies with good habbits.

I am sure everyone want to see it when you have it at the field. A bipe is always a great crowd pleaser.

Is there anyone that have a electronic version of the plans that I could get? It looks like a great bipe to build.

Theo

There you go:

http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=4414

I just looked more thoroughly; it's just an assembly plan.

Any chance you can trace and scan (or have scanned) the original parts, or the empty cutouts? This way others can scratch build.


Awesome looking bipe!

Phil

Thanks for the report Gus , glad it flew what sounds like well to me Eric